Regulation Goes Back Years; Many Violations Unresolved

BY WESLEY YOUNG
SALISBURY POST

Here is a summary of the regulatory history of Rowan County quarries that mine dimension stone, or large blocks of stone.

The state reports three quarries immediately south of the town of Granite Quarry - Balfour, Herman and Shuping quarries - and one quarry just south of Faith, the Solar White.

Balfour Quarry, on Balfour Quarry Road, faces a $5,625 fine for alleged violations that include failing to put in erosion controls and fencing, along with doing work outside the permitted area.

Started as Harris Granite Quarry, the quarry basically went dormant in the late 1960s, and people started building houses around the fringe of the property, even taking advantage of an old quarry pit as a crystal clear pond.

Then, in the early 1990s, Italian Gianni Moscardini came to town and made plans to reopen the quarry for its unique pink stone. Moscardini called the quarry the Pink Camellia. Neighbors Don and Holly Stromberg - and others - called the operation a headache. They complained about the loud jet burners, about the lack of a noise and sight barriers and other problems.

Ownership of the quarry has changed hands, but the Strombergs' complaints remain.

In March 1998, Don Stromberg complained that the quarry had piled dirt on his property. In May, a state inspector found the quarry wasn't following the rules.

"We have been patient since 1992, and believe me, our patience is wearing thin,'' Stromberg wrote the state in June of this year. "Our frustration stems from the fact that ... (requirements) continue to be violated, with no fines being levied and continued extensions of deadline to bring the operation into compliance.''

Although it is incorporated here as Balfour Quarry Inc. the quarry is apparently affiliated with an Italian company, Henraux S.P.A., based in Lucca in Tuscany.

Herman Quarry, practically across the road from Balfour Quarry, is inactive and has been reclaimed but not without a struggle on the part of state regulators. Once owned by the L.S. Starrett Co. of Mount Airy, the site transferred to Carolina Quarries in 1993.

Carolina Quarries transferred ownership to Moscardini's Balfour Quarry, but the state wouldn't allow the ITALLLLpermit to change hands because of violations at the White Camellia quarry. Carolina Quarries remained responsible for cleaning up a site it no longer owned.

Finally, Balfour transferred the site to David Marple, who also acted on behalf of Moscardini to settle the state fine relating to Moscardini's White Camellia quarry.

Shuping Quarry, the third mine in the area south of Granite Quarry, is inactive and also has been reclaimed. Records show the last mining occurred there in 1972. In succession, Harris Granite Co., the Granite Memorial company, Matthews International and Carolina Quarries operated the mine.

nSolar White Quarry, formerly the Silvertone Quarry, operates off Artz Road southwest of the town of Faith. Once owned by Comolli Granite, it transferred to Granite Panelwall Co. in 1982. Under this company, the quarry was cited for sediment washing off the site into a creek and other problems. Nearby resident Ken Kluttz complained that sediment from the quarry was entering his lake.

In 1990, the state issued a notice of violation because of the problems. A later inspection showed improvement, and in 1991 the mine transferred to Rowan Granite Quarry Inc. of Athens, Ga.

A 1993 inspection showed inadequate sediment controls and discharge from the pit bypassing the sediment basins.

The mine's permit expired in 1995, but state regulators allowed the operators to apply for a renewed permit after the deadline passed. Had the quarry been forced to seek a new permit, its owners would have been required to shut down pending the new permit and to notify adjacent property owners that they were seeking a permit.

Since the state issued the new permit, the quarry has passed some inspections but not others. Problems have continued with runoff from the site onto the Kluttz property. As recently as May 25, the state's water quality regulators were telling the operators to stop releasing untreated water from the quarry pits into the Kluttz pond.

Rockwell quarries

Four quarry permits cover operations just south of N.C. 152 west of Rockwell: The White Camellia and Rockwell Granite quarries, now merged, the Cameo Rose and the White Gardenia quarries.

White Camellia Granite Quarry is now merged with its next door neighbor, Rockwell Granite Quarry, but when in operation, it earned the largest fine ever levied against a Rowan County quarry: $10,400.

That civil fine came in June 1996 after inspectors, for about a year, cited a variety of problems including debris on the site and a lack of fencing for the pit. The mine was no longer operating by the time the state issued the notice of violation in February 1996, but the state kept up efforts to clean up the site.

Moscardini told state officials he was trying to sell the quarry to a prospective buyer, and that the buyers didn't want him to begin reclaiming the site, apparently because they wanted to continue mining. The state pushed forward with enforcement, although it did grant Moscardini a short delay on the fine to try to finalize his sale.

After the state finally issued the fine, however, it could not collect. Records show Moscardini informed regulators that White Camellia had no assets to pay the fine.

That didn't stop Moscardini from getting back his $5,000 reclamation bond when he disposed of the mine in 1997. Under one of the quirks of the system, the state couldn't hold back the reclamation bond even though the mine owned a $10,400 penalty.

In the end, a man active in Rowan County quarries, David Marple, and Moscardini worked out a deal to settle a debt, records show. Moscardini gave Marple the old Herman Quarry property, and Marple in turn negotiated a settlement with the state for the White Camellia penalty. Marple apparently negotiated the penalty down to $5,000 and paid it.

Rockwell Granite Quarry, begun next to the White Camellia, later acquired the White Camellia from Moscardini and included it in its own quarrying operation.

Rockwell Granite has had troubles of its own complying with state regulations. Inspectors have faulted the quarry for problems as varied as failing to fence the quarry pit and doing work outside the permitted area.

The quarry has also had a number of blasting complaints from neighbors. The state issued a notice of violation in January 1997, noting, among other things, that the quarry had not submitted blasting records on request.

Since then, the quarry and neighboring landowners have been at odds. Members of the Laura Deal family - including Deal's son-in-law, Ken Austin - complained that the quarry operations flooded out their road, which is lower than the quarry property.

The quarry offered to raise the road and pipe water underneath it, but the neighbors have refused to accept that solution.

Through their attorney, Roman Pibl, the neighbors have accused the state of "backward enforcement'' of the state's mining law. They charge that when the quarry has gone outside its permitted area, the state has sought to get the quarry to apply for a modification to the permit - one that would legalize the improper work after the fact.

"The state's job is to protect my clients, not to assist Rockwell Granite Quarry Co. in its mining operation,'' Pibl told state authorities in a letter.

Records show Bert Meijboom, Rockwell Granite' geologist, told state officials he had tried to work with the Deal family to solve the drainage problems on their property.

In May of this year, the director of the state's Division of Land Quality wrote Meijboom and thanked him for working to correct problems at the quarry.

However, a subsequent inspection still showed the mine not complying with the regulations. Regulators said the mine needed to improve erosion controls, keep the pit barrier in place at all times, eliminate piles of waste and avoid altering work plans without modifying the permit.

In June, Meijboom told the state that he had done work without modifying the permit because he wanted to take advantage of dry weather that he wouldn't have later.

Meanwhile, the state issued a notice of violation against the quarry on June 25, and a July 22 inspection showed the mine still had problems.

Meijboom responded again to the state complaints, explaining that he had no choice but to change some sediment basins from the plan because of the way Moscardini's old basins had been placed.

In the most recent entry in the state's file, the inspector noted "little progress has been noticed at the site to correct the violations'' noted in previous inspections.

Cameo Rose Quarry, off Shive Road nearby, is closed, with the last mining apparently taking place more than a decade ago. By 1994 the quarry site had been reclaimed, and operators Dixie Quarry Inc. had gotten back their $5,000 reclamation bond.

White Gardenia Granite Quarry, to the east of the Rockwell Granite/White Camellia quarry, has been operated by Piedmont Quarries since opening in 1995. The quarry has had some clean inspections, but more recently was faulted for making changes not covered in the permit. The state has also received a couple blasting complaints relating to the operation.

Dunn's Mountain

The state regulates five quarry operations on or near Dunn's Mountain and the area extending northeast toward Bringle Ferry Road.

Dunn's Mountain Pink Granite Quarry began operating on Dunn's Mountain in 1995, with operators stressing "awareness of the importance of the community and the environment in a manageable cooperative coexistence,'' according to a letter operators sent the state. The operators said little, if any, jet burning would be done on the site.

However, the very first state inspection report, dated Jan. 3, 1996, showed the mine violating state regulations. The report said dust from a diesel burner was drifting onto surrounding properties. The inspector also noted a lack of pit fencing and berms.

Subsequent inspections found the state pushing the quarry to install sediment basins for runoff control, to screen the property from neighbors and to keep dust and noise to a minimum.

In December 1996, Rockwell Granite Co. - operators of the Rockwell Granite and White Camellia mines - got a controlling interest in the Dunn's Mountain Pink Granite. Meijboom, the company geologist, told state regulators he would work to install the berms.

In April 1997, Meijboom met with complaining neighbors. During the meeting, neighbors found that state Air Quality inspectors had determined that the dust did not exceed state limits. But people also told the quarry operator they found rocks in their yards from blasting, and that blasting was causing cracks in their houses.

Despite finding problems in an April 1997 inspection, the state renewed the company's mining permit in August 1997. Meijboom told state officials about the same time that the mine might have to cease operation because of a lack of orders. However, in December 1997, new orders came in and quarry officials told the state they would resume full production.

The quarry reported an excessive blast to the state on Jan. 19, 1998.

Rowan Pink Quarry on Harris Quarry Road, across Stokes Ferry Road from Dunn's Mountain, is a new operation, only permitted in August 1997 to North American Stone Co. State officials have made no inspections of the quarry yet.

Salisbury Quarry, further north on Harris Quarry Road, is one of the county's most venerable quarries. Granite Memorial Company operated the mine when the state began keeping records in 1972, and Matthews International took over the quarry in 1982. Carolina Quarries acquired the quarry in 1993. Rock of Ages bought Carolina Quarries in 1997, thus obtaining Salisbury Quarry.

This spring, an inspection found a lack of adequate screening and that buffer zones and berms were not properly maintained.

The berm and buffer had apparently been designed to keep the quarry at least 75 feet from the edge of the road. But Doug Miller, regional supervisor for the state's Division of Land Quality, said this fall in a memo that the quarry "has encroached significantly into the area where the berm was supposed to be and is now much closer to the road than the previously approved permit allowed.''

State Air Quality inspectors investigated a dust complaint this spring and found no violation.

Crystal Pink Quarry and Pink Salisbury Quarry, are both owned by Carolina Quarries, and thus by Rock of Ages. The quarries made headlines recently when the Rowan County Board of Commissioners ruled them inactive and not eligible to reopen without a zoning change. This came despite assertions from Carolina Quarries officials that some work still took place at the Crystal Pink and that even the Pink Salisbury was not "abandoned.''

The L.S. Starrett Co. obtained the permit to operate Crystal Pink in the 1970s. In the early 1990s, state inspectors found violations at the quarry, including work outside the permitted area and sediment leaving the site.

In 1993, Carolina Quarries obtained the quarry's permit. An inspection in 1995 noted that the mine was inactive and called for reclamation work. The inspection faulted the quarry for inadequate pit fencing.

The Pink Salisbury Quarry is inactive, but inspections since the early 1990s showed a lack of reclamation and erosion problems. In 1995, Keystone Milling Co. bought the quarry but apparently refused to carry out reclamation work. The state confiscated the $5,000 reclamation bond in November 1996.

Crushed stone quarries

In addition to the 13 dimensional stone quarries, Rowan County has three quarries that mine and crush stone, though only two are active:

Kannapolis Quarry, operated by Martin Marietta, has been the subject of blast complaints, but so far regulators haven't found any that exceed the regulations. The quarry has checked out fine on some inspections, but regulators have faulted it on others for sediment controls or pit fencing.

Woodleaf Quarry passed its most recent inspection in April 1997, although the quarry on its own initiative reported an excessive blast on Aug. 14 this year.

In the 1980s, the owner of a nearby well reported cloudy water and suspected the quarry was at fault. Inspections in the late 1980s and one in 1995 showed sediment problems. But the most significant incident came in 1990, when the quarry told state regulators that a blast had sent a 33-pound rock flying 1,670 feet from the quarry, into Frank Lindsey's yard. No one was injured.

The inactive crushed-stone quarry is Stalite Mine in Gold Hill.